5 String Short Scales. Do they work?

[Woodinblack]

Pretty well as the title, considering that some people here say that increasing the scale length by 3% to 35" makes the B string work much better on a bass, what happens if you reduce it to 30" - does it work ok?

I have had a few Bass VI style instruments, such as.. well, a Bass VI and an Ibanez SRSC6 which were ok for an e string and thinking about it, a SS squier Jag that was also ok, but nothing with a b string.

So what is the general opinion of those who have tried them - any good or is it a string too far?

[ead]

Never tried one, but is this not about careful string selection?  Our very own eude has some shorter scale ACG 6s (possibly 5ers too).

[franzbassist]

I haven't tried 30" fives, but I had an ACG 33" scale fiver that worked just fine. (.130 Newtone low B)

Edited June 28, 2018 by walbassist

[Matt P]

I believe that there are a few short scale 5 strings available but they aren't that common. Ibanez make a mikro one which is 28.something inches, and there's birdsong who have made some 31" i think. Maruszczyk have made one or two as well.

I've got a vague plan to build a 30.5" 5 string but it depends on finding the right donor neck (34" scale, 5 string, 22 or 21 fret and 19mm spacing at the bridge)

 

there are a few sets of strings available if you like roundwounds but the only short scale 5 string flats i can find are La Bella's

this is what i found when i googled the question a few months ago https://www.talkbass.com/threads/tight-b-string-on-short-scale-5-string.1248784/

Matt

 

Edited June 28, 2018 by Matt P
added the link to TB

[pete.young]

1 hour ago, Matt P said:

 

I've got a vague plan to build a 30.5" 5 string but it depends on finding the right donor neck (34" scale, 5 string, 22 or 21 fret and 19mm spacing at the bridge)

 

I don't think that's going to work, unless you're building a fretless. The fret spacings will be wrong, and you'd need to re-fret to 30.5" scale length.

[Woodinblack]

Yes, sadly you would have to remove the top two frets of the neck, which is going to get messy!

 

now I think of that formula, the rule of 18 (where 18= 17.817153, but that’s not very snappy), a 30” bass would be the same as a normal 34” bass tuned down a tone to A, and that works fine

[ped]

My bass is a 17" scale 5 string

[Woodinblack]

3 minutes ago, ped said:

My bass is a 17" scale 5 string

There is always someone that has to take everything to extremes!

[skelf]

Just completed a 5 string 30.5" scale bass and it seems to work pretty well. I have another on the books which will be done in a few weeks.

[Matt P]

3 hours ago, pete.young said:

I don't think that's going to work, unless you're building a fretless. The fret spacings will be wrong, and you'd need to re-fret to 30.5" scale length.

That is actually my plan, I've just bought an aria 30" scale bass and the neck is the same length as a 34" 21 fret neck but they've fretted it with 24 frets for a 30 scale, my plan was to replace the fretboard on a 34" neck with a new one at the right scale and then make a new body to suit. 

Hopefully I've explained that well enough! It seems wrong but I've been over this bass with a tape measure and the neck blank they have used is the same size as a 34" scale bass just with a tiny body 

 

Matt

[pete.young]

4 minutes ago, Matt P said:

That is actually my plan, I've just bought an aria 30" scale bass and the neck is the same length as a 34" 21 fret neck but they've fretted it with 24 frets for a 30 scale, my plan was to replace the fretboard on a 34" neck with a new one at the right scale and then make a new body to suit. 

Hopefully I've explained that well enough! It seems wrong but I've been over this bass with a tape measure and the neck blank they have used is the same size as a 34" scale bass just with a tiny body 

 

Ah, I see. Yes, that should work. Looking forward to seeing the results in the Build forum!

[Matt P]

4 minutes ago, pete.young said:

Ah, I see. Yes, that should work. Looking forward to seeing the results in the Build forum!

It's going to be a while before I get round to this, need to find a cheap enough donor bass that I can cannibalise and I've got a guitar build to do for a friend first as well (which also involves replacing a fretboard so will be good practice) all the cheap 5 strings I've seen have either had narrow spacing or 24 fret necks so getting a donor bass might take some time (provided that what I'm looking for actually exists!) 

 

Matt

[eude]

19 hours ago, ead said:

Never tried one, but is this not about careful string selection?  Our very own eude has some shorter scale ACG 6s (possibly 5ers too).

I do indeed have a few shorter ACG 6 strings. They're all 31.5" scale and the low B on them is ridiculously good.

I doubt I'll ever go back to full sized basses ever again.

You can hear the sound of my first 31.5" Alan made for me here >>

https://m.soundcloud.com/eudeboy/sets/acg-salace-sc-e-type-samples

I don't doubt for a second that even shorter can work too.

A good luthier and with the right choice of strings will get you exactly what you want.

Eude

[Woodinblack]

OK - so i got one and now I can't  find any 5 string short scale sets.

Surely someone must make them?

[yorks5stringer]

I had an Ibanez Artcore semi 5 string short scale with a 30 .3 neck. String choice was the key, I had it on flats and the B was a bit meh but with something more zingy ( like what it came with) it was OK.

[naxos10]

Woodinblack, have a chat with the guys and Newtone strings. They can probably wind you a set and Alan fits their strings standard on the ACG basses.

[Woodinblack]

Unfortunately it seems their website is dead, I will try emailing them

[Woodinblack]

Their website started working again, so now I have ordered some strings - thanks for that.

[No lust in Jazz]

I had Mensinger / Maruszczyk make me one, the 5 string vs. 30.5" worked fine - sadly the rest of instrument, particularly the build quality was lamentable and I sold it.

[Dazed]

How did you get on with this?

[andruca]

I have my Epiphone Viola (30.5" scale) strung BEAD since the day I got it. Works OK both for the picked kind of HC/punk I play with it (with enough thick SansAmp crunch) or the occasional acoustic stuff (hate ABGs, a hollow body does it better, every time), in which I pluck mostly with a soft touch. This clip is picked but way cleaner than I usually go, still can serve as a sample. In the case of the Viola it helps to roll back the neck volume just a tad (so is here) but usually I use both pickups maxed as this gives me a more consistent OD response, vital for punk bass' omnipresence.

http://andresdemarco.info/ImaginaEpifonSAMPCMP.mp3

Edited April 25, 2019 by andruca

[eude]

35 minutes ago, andruca said:

I have my Epiphone Viola (30.5" scale) strung BEAD since the day I got it. Works OK both for the picked kind of HC/punk I play with it (with enough thick SansAmp crunch) or the occasional acoustic stuff (hate ABGs, a hollow body does it better, every time), in which I pluck mostly with a soft touch. This clip is picked but way cleaner than I usually go, still can serve as a sample. In the case of the Viola it helps to roll back the neck volume just a tad (so is here) but usually I use both pickups maxed as this gives me a more consistent OD response, vital for punk bass' omnipresence.

http://andresdemarco.info/ImaginaEpifonSAMPCMP.mp3

That sounds fantastic! What strings are you using?

Eude

[fretmeister]

IT's all about the build.

 

I owned a Dingwall and a Marleaux Consat at the same time. The Consat is 34, and the ding was 37 on the B.

 

The Marleaux has the best low B I have ever heard on an instrument, and it's scale is 3 inches shorter than the Dingwall.

I see no reason why a well built 30 inch scale couldn't be as good, or at least very close.

[Woodinblack]

The bass was fine from a B string point of view. In fact the bass was ok, I just didn't gell with it. It was a beautiful thing, but the neck profile wasn't right for me and the pickups weren't exciting. I would not have a problem having a 30" 5 string again.

[andruca]

On 25/04/2019 at 17:36, eude said:

That sounds fantastic! What strings are you using?

Eude

Cheap Warwick Reds, just not the usually seen rough steel version but the NICKEL ones (only available from thomann AFAIK), the lower 4 strings of a .045-.135 set.